Titans claim six individual titles en rout to district wrestling team crown

Six Titans won individual titles Saturday at Camas High School en route to the program's fifth consecutive district team title.

"It's a great thing to have," said junior Sam Berry, who won at 145 pounds over teammate Jesse Fehrer. "Our head coach (John Godinho) is a great guy. He helps a lot, and not only with wrestling, but with school and life decisions. We are a huge family."

The family that trains together wins together. Union won two district titles as a 3A program and now the last three as a 4A program.

It was not all Union at the Class 4A District 4 Championships.

Anthony Thomas of Evergreen won his third consecutive district title. He thanked his teammates.

"I really wouldn't have done as well without my training partners," Thomas said. "It is a team sport. At the end of the day, you're only as good as your training partners."

Thomas finished third at state last year. He called this the first step toward another long run.

"Take it one by one and pretty soon it will lead to the bigger matches," Thomas said.

Daniel Rice of Union, Ramon Ortiz of Evergreen, and Adam Peterson of Battle Ground won their second district titles.

"It's what I expected to do," Rice said after winning at 113 pounds. "I'm glad I met my goal."

Ortiz won at 126 pounds last year and then won at 120 this year.

"We practice for this tournament all year," Ortiz said. "Next week, we'll practice for regionals. And then you practice for state.

"This is rewarding. It feels good to be a champion and knowing that you dominated a tournament."

Peterson finished seventh at state last year. He hopes this weekend is the start of something big.

"I just love the sport of wrestling, and it means a lot to me to be champion of this district," Peterson said. "I'm really looking forward to regionals and then state. I'm ranked fourth this year. Hopefully I can do better than that. Last shot."

The 4A regionals will be held next Saturday at Heritage. The top three wrestlers from districts advance to the regional meet, where four wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for state.

Berry was not a defending champion, but he might have won last year had he not been injured. He qualified for the finals despite a bad shoulder then took the forfeit.

This year, he got the chance to wrestle. Just so happened to be against a teammate.

"It was a good experience to have someone you are close to, to have fun with," Berry said of Fehrer.